Motorola Computer Group introduced the newest member of its MBX family of EBX form-factor single-board computers (SBCs) at LinuxWorld Expo in San Jose, CA this week. The MBX2000 — a high-performance, low power, and compact SBC — complies with the Ampro/Motorola EBX form-factor standard for embedded computer boards. The new Motorola's EBX SBC sports an Intel mobile Pentium II CPU (in the “BGA1” surface mount package), plus a PC compabible system's worth of onboard functions, including interfaces for communications, networking, graphics, and storage. The device can interface directly with both flat-panel displays and Ethernet LANs, making it a complete, ready-to-use system-on-a-board.

In recognition of the excellent match between the MBX2000 and Embedded Linux, Motorola arranged for its new Pentium II EBX SBC to be supported by three prominent Embedded Linux suppliers: Lineo, LynuxWorks, and MontaVista. Additionally, ACT/Technico, a supplier of systems that incorporate Motorola's board-level products, will offer a fully-integrated solution based on the MBX2000, called the EMBoX. All three Embedded Linux suppliers demonstrated their MBX2000 support, running in ACT/Technico EMBoXes at LinuxWorld Expo this week.

Here is a summary of the features of the MBX2000:

• EBX compatible form-factor
  
• 266/333MHz mobile Intel Pentium II processor (BGA1 chip package)
  
• Intel 440BX chipset with 66MHz front-side-bus
  
• 256KB L2 cache
  
• 1 DIMM slot supporting 3.3V PC100 SDRAM
  
• 10/100 Mbit Ethernet interface (Intel 82559)
  
• Intel 69030 VGA/LCD display controller with 4MB video RAM
  
• I/O ports: 4 RS-232 serial, parallel, floppy, PS/2
  keyboard/mouse, dual USB, IrDA, 16 digital I/O
  
• PC/104 and PC/104-Plus expansion (ISA and PCI support)
  
• Watchdog timer, interval timers, and hardware monitor
  
• ATA/33 EIDE interface with CompactFlash Type II socket on one channel
  
• Size: 5.75″ x 8.0″

Information about the Ampro/Motorola EBX specification, which defines a compact (5.75″ x 8.0″) SBC form-factor with PC/104-Plus expansion, is available here.

 
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